Nita's
Negatives

One
of
Ludham's oldest residents was Nita Townsend who lived to
be over 100
years old. The daughter of the village
doctor, Nita lived in the area for most of her life.
One day, Nita gave the Archive Group a large box of
photo negatives.
Nita thought that they were family pictures dating back
over many
years, but she had no prints and her eyesight is no
longer good enough
to give any clue about what the photographs might be.

So the Archive Group began the task of scanning and
printing the
negatives. There were hundreds of them and it was a big
job. After
scanning, each photograph needed electronic enhancement
and some even
needed stitching together. Then there was the task of
deciding if the
picture was the right way round or a mirror image. We
had to resort to
any clues which might be in the picture like the side
which people had
buttoned their clothes. After all this, we still had to
work out what
the pictures were.

Nita told us that the pictures were just family snaps
and of little
interest, but when the work of sorting and printing them
was complete,
it became clear that we had got a wonderful collection
of pictures
which provide a window onto a totally forgotten world.
It truly was
worth the effort of preserving them. Don't just take our
word for it.
Here are a few examples from the Nita Townsend
Collection:

We think this is Staithe Road Ludham and it looks like
they are moving
home.

Nita's father was the village doctor and so was an
important person. He
owned a car and the picture shows it parked in The
Street with
Thrower's Shop and the Baker's Arms pub on the left.

We don't know who these people are, but it is a nice
picture

This is Nita herself, ice skating on a frozen Womack
Water. Womack
Water often froze in the past although this is a rare
event today.

Did you know that the film Conflict of Wings was made
on location in
Ludham. Here you see the crew in action.

A really nice photograph. One of over 400 in the
collection.

There are many photographs of Broads boating in Nita's
collection.

At Red Roofs

A happy group and a nice car. Did they all fit in?

On the road between Ludham and Potter Heigham long
before the A149
bypass was built.

This little tractor features in several photographs.

There is a boat under there somewhere.

To see more pictures from the Nita
Townsend Collection, just click
this link to go to a larger photo album. We don't
necessarily know who or what is in the picture so if you
can help with any information, please just go back to
our home page and send us an e-mail.

You can find out more about Nita and her life on this
page - More Memories.